"After I gave up drinking I found it absolutely petrifying to DJ," the deckspinner, whose real name is Norman Cook, told the Irish Independent. "I had never tried it before. Until then all the nerves had been banished by alcohol."

He worried he would not be able to continue until he was asked to perform at Dublin's Marlay Park, several months after leaving rehab in 2009.

"That was the first sober gig I did where the response of the crowd and the excitement the music was generating got me over my fear," said Cook (50) , whose hits include 'The Rockafeller Skank' and 'Praise You'. "I was petrified and the warmth of the Dublin audience got me over all of that."

Cook, pictured, was speaking ahead of his headline slot at the Electric Picnic festival at Stradbally, Laois at the end of the month. In the interview he also discussed the difficult transition from underground star to fully fledged celebrity following his marriage to BBC presenter Zoe Ball and explained why, after years of success, he grew tired of listening to his own music.

You can read the full interview in 'Day & Night' magazine with tomorrow's Irish Independent, an Electric Picnic special and guide to all the action in Stradbally next weekend.